Parks Canada
Privacy Act —
Annual Report 2022-2023

Introduction

Parks Canada Agency is pleased to submit to Parliament its annual report on the administration of the Privacy Act for the reporting period commencing on April 1, 2022, and ending on March 31, 2023.

This report is prepared and tabled in accordance with section 72 of the Privacy Act which requires that the head of every federal institution prepare and submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act in the institution during the fiscal year.

Purpose of the Privacy Act

The purpose of the Privacy Act is to provide:

• individuals with the right to access and correct personal information about themselves that is under the control of a government institution
• the legal framework for the collection, retention, use, disclosure, disposition and accuracy of personal information in the administration of programs and activities by government institutions subject to the Act

Mandate of Parks Canada Agency

The Parks Canada Agency’s mandate is to protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage and to foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative integrity for present and future generations. The Agency is responsible for operations under multiple pieces of federal legislation and protects approximately 450 000 km² of Canada’s terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems. It is the steward of 47 national parks, one national urban park, four national marine conservation areas and 171 national historic sites, including nine heritage canals. The Agency is highly decentralized with team members located across the country and often in remote areas.

Organizational structure

Internal tools and procedures have been developed to support the Agency in meeting its obligations under the Privacy Act, regulations and Treasury Board policies and are regularly reviewed and improved.

Parks Canada met its statutory deadlines for all requests during the reporting period and ensured proactive publication requirements were met. Parks Canada is committed to transparency, service to Canadians and the expeditious processing of access to information requests and has put in place the systems and processes necessary to meet this commitment.

Parks Canada did not enter in any service agreements under section 73.1 of the Privacy Act during the reporting period.

Delegation order

Performance 2022-2023

The following report presents an overview of activities carried out within the Agency during the reporting period of April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. The Statistical Report (Appendix A) contains detailed statistics on the information requests processed under the Privacy Act.

Parks Canada responded to all requests for personal information within legislated timelines.

Thirty (30) personal information requests were received under the Privacy Act. Four (4) requests were carried over to next reporting period.

The following is a breakdown of the number of completed requests broken down by completion times:

Seven (7) requests were fully disclosed, and fifteen (15) requests resulted in the partial disclosure of the records. Three (3) requests had no records and three (3) were abandoned by the applicants.

One active complaint was outstanding from the previous reporting period.

The following is a percentage breakdown by disclosure types for privacy requests processed in 2022-2023:

Section 15 of the Privacy Act permits the statutory time limits to be extended if consultations are necessary, if translation is required or if the request is for a large volume of records and processing it within the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution.

No extensions were claimed by Parks Canada on the Privacy requests.

In the last three (3) years since fiscal year 2019-2020, there has been a 53% increase in the number of privacy requests received.

The Agency did not receive any consultation requests under the Privacy Act. No consultations were carried forward from the previous reporting period and no consultations were carried forward to the next reporting period.

There was no impact on the processing of requests due to COVID-19 during this reporting period. Parks Canada responded to all requests received within legislated timelines. Due to mitigation measures put in place during the previous fiscal years, all documents were received electronically and then imported into ATIP processing software. The ATIP Office continued delivering responses electronically via Canada Post Connect and ATIP Online.

The Agency provides the public with information on an informal basis. Information is provided only when the Agency is satisfied that the information requested concerns the individual making the request or where at least one of the conditions outlined in subsection 8(2) of the Act is met.

In addition to the above, Parks Canada’s ATIP Office also reviews human resources investigation reports and provides strategic advice on human resource issues.

Training and awareness

Facilitating efficient and transparent access to information and to personal information for Canadians is a priority for Parks Canada.

To ensure that all Agency employees understand their responsibilities and obligations regarding the legislation, including the proactive publication of Part 2, awareness sessions are offered periodically to provide information on the provisions of the Access to Information Act.

The participation of ATIP Office team members in several meetings on new initiatives, programs and services offered by the agency created opportunities to meet with many employees from different sectors. ATIP focused on customized, program-specific training for the different responsibilities of each Parks Canada program and service.

As a result of the relationships built through these meetings, Parks Canada employees have a better understanding of the impact of access to information and privacy on the programs and activities they deliver. They have the knowledge to provide relevant documents with appropriate recommendations for processing requests.

The development of these relationships has been beneficial to the Agency, with employees in Offices of Primary Interest sending ninety-three (93) questions related to the ATIP request.

The Agency put a focus on training its employees as to their responsibilities pertaining to access to information and privacy during the last reporting period. This year, twenty-one (21) training sessions were given to Agency employees in 2022-2023. In total, two hundred and ninety-two (292) employees attended these sessions.

Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office was continuously ensuring that its policies and procedures for processing requests made pursuant to the Privacy Act were up to date and that adjustments were made to areas where the need for improvement was identified.

The Agency created an internal privacy breach protocol following the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat update of the Privacy Policy instruments.

The ATIP Office is currently training two employees to ensure continuity of the privacy expertise within the Agency. This allows the ATIP office to provide recommendations to programs responsible for Parks Canada's programs, services and activities. This will provide greater consistency and efficiency in the administration of privacy matters within the Agency.

The Agency did not receive authority for any new collection or new consistent use of Social Insurance Numbers during the reporting period.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints

No complaints were filed with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada during the reporting period under review. There have been no audits or investigations.

Monitoring compliance

The Agency monitors the time required to process personal information requests. When the need for improvements are identified, internal processes are adjusted. No requests for correction of personal information were received during the reporting period.

Material privacy breaches

There were no material privacy breaches reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and to the Information and Privacy Policy Division, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat during this period.

Privacy impact assessments

Between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023 the Agency had 14 active privacy impact assessments (PIA). Four (4) new PIA were created awaiting for Treasury Board Secretariat approval: Youth employment and skills strategy program, Learn-to camp, National point of sales solution and Online sale of passes and permits program. One (1) PIA regarding Parks Canada Reservation Service was modified.

Public interest disclosures

There were no disclosures of personal information made pursuant to 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act during the reporting period.